Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I would never spend my own money to fly to an interview. If a company is not paying they are not really that into you. Suggest skype but I would absolutely not fly in at my own expense. That tells me as I said the company is sort of ho hum with you or they are incredibly cheap and you won't want to see what they offer you in the unlikely event they do make an offer.
I would be willing to pay some of the costs - lodging. I think that's not unreasonable. But I agree that I'd would make them pay for airfare.
I just interviewed with a firm in San Diego, CA and the outsourced HR consultant they hired really liked my background and what she heard on the phone interview today. She told me I was the perfect candidate and that she wished I was already in San Diego...but the one thing that's deterring me from others is that I'm from Minnesota, but that they're willing to "make it work" if I pass the next interviews. It's another phone interview and then I would then need to fly to San Diego at my cost to meet all of them in person if I pass the 2nd phone interview.
Any suggestions on what I can say to persuade them to not look at where I'm from and what I can provide them once they hire me? I feel that once I'm offered the position, it's my personal responsibility (not theirs) to worry if I can find a place or not.
I really want this job and I really want to move to CA! I was told I was 2nd place candidate in the last job I interviewed for in San Francisco, CA.
Send them the weather report from Minnesota, and ask them what would they be willing to do to swap that with some San Diego weather.
It really depends on the agency, the level of the job and the budget! It doesn't sound like they were looking out of town, this person applied from out of town -- big difference.
This is just how it works in certain places, it really depends on the job, the budgets involved, if its public or private, profit or non-profit and how bad this person wants the job for their skill set or to be able to move.
This is not at all unusual for a less experienced person to take on some of the expense.
Even in my job, which is a great company, they flew me to an airport for an interview...but didn't give me any extra for rental car or to check out the town, hotel etc. I paid for that myself. They just needed to interview me in person and did so at the airport. I paid for the extra time there. I didn't have to have extra time there but I wanted it to see the area and do some house hunting.
I also applied to a university position when I was finishing my master's. I happened to be in Nevada so I could go to the inteview but they would not have flown me there. I was offered the position and ended up not taking it but at that point of my career and for a publicly funded position I understood they didn't have much extra to wine and dine me. I was the best candidate, but that doesn't mean they couldn't find a very good candidate that they could afford closer to where the position was.
People here are a bit delusional...
its all about what the company or agency needs, what they can afford vs. what a person wants/needs and can offer.
They don't NEED someone to move from Minnesota, it doesn't sound like an exectutive level position where they need to import someone...
but if she/he is willing to help take on some of the moving cost well then sure they would probably like to have the better person!
This is pretty common in places that are more non-profit or publicly funded.
This is pretty much it, right here. It's how badly they need someone and how badly someone needs them. I'd never agree to pay more than 50 percent of the total costs of getting to an interview, but the thing I'd be looking for is whether they're willing to invest at least half and hopefully more than that. Employment's always a two-way street. If you're an employee who's super skilled and extremely qualified, perhaps you can call your own shots, but the reality is, there are a lot of qualified employees out there these days. The whole decision about whether to pay or not pay is more a matter of two things:
1) Is this company willing to 'invest' at least some money to recruit and train people?
2) Are they serious enough about me to entice me out there by paying at least half (and ideally more) of my expenses?
3) If the answer to one or both of those questions is 'no', how badly do I want this job?
And in order to answer question #3, I'd need to have done my research and long-term planning to know what I can expect to get out of this employer.
I would definitely agree that it's not a good idea to go out to an interview completely on one's own dime, but someone who isn't willing to pay even a portion of their own costs to an interview had better hope they've got a golden skill set and track record. Otherwise they're not likely to get a second look. It's a very competitive market out there.
The good news is, if you can get them to pay for your interview costs, then they have to think about that once they've gone through with it. They're not likely to waste your time. They've already invested in you to a degree so that means they're probably serious about hiring you.
This is a realistic concern amongst companies in California. I moved to the Bay Area from Boston, Massachusetts 7 years ago, and 4 other people came at the same time I did (from Mass) Only two of us are remaining in CA today. Since I have been here, of all the jobs I've had, the people who come from out of state about 25% of them end up staying, so that means 75% go back to where they are from, or move elsewhere. Most of these people in my personal experience only work for 1 year maximum before they move on.
Though a lot of people want to live in CA and romanticize it, many people can't stand it, hate it, or it's so different that they miss home too much.
I'm sure the companies you're applying for just want assurance someone who will be staying in the area for more than a year.
I agree with everyone here. Remember that HR people's first and foremost responsibility is to the company, not to potential candidates. Yes, they will lie to you if they need to.
And as far as I know, legit companies who genuinely are interested in you will pay for your flight to them for an in-person interview. If you have to fly out on your own money, then they're not really interested in you.
I agree with everyone here. Remember that HR people's first and foremost responsibility is to the company, not to potential candidates. Yes, they will lie to you if they need to.
And as far as I know, legit companies who genuinely are interested in you will pay for your flight to them for an in-person interview. If you have to fly out on your own money, then they're not really interested in you.
I'm sorry but that's just not true. Plenty of small businesses, non profits, even educational institutions just don't have that kind of money to throw around, when there are plenty of local candidates. If a person in MN wants a job in Southern California and they are not in a top field, with a unique skill set, this makes perfect sense.
The company or agency is probably not trying to pull a fast one, they just don't have any reason to look in Minnesota.
So, in other words, yeah they probably are very interested...as long as they don't have to pay for her to move, interview and wait for her to get settled in the area.
If she wants to be considered it has to make sense to THEM.
Sorry but plenty of reputable business and institutions just do not have the type of budgets that allow for candidate searching across the country. And truly in most fields, its not necessary that they do.
I'm sorry but that's just not true. Plenty of small businesses, non profits, even educational institutions just don't have that kind of money to throw around, when there are plenty of local candidates. If a person in MN wants a job in Southern California and they are not in a top field, with a unique skill set, this makes perfect sense.
The company or agency is probably not trying to pull a fast one, they just don't have any reason to look in Minnesota.
So, in other words, yeah they probably are very interested...as long as they don't have to pay for her to move, interview and wait for her to get settled in the area.
If she wants to be considered it has to make sense to THEM.
Sorry but plenty of reputable business and institutions just do not have the type of budgets that allow for candidate searching across the country. And truly in most fields, its not necessary that they do.
It's not cheap to fly from Minnesota to Cali. Look at what you're saying. The OP will take all the risks and any money loss in this process will be of the OP's.
You have to understand something. A lot of us have been lied to by HR that we were the perfect candidate or the first choice or blah blah only to find out later we probably were never even considered.
I've said this many times before. The only person in your life looking out for your best interest is you. Everyone else is a potential liar.
I wouldn't fly for the interview, I'd ask to do skype if they weren't able to pay for it. But, if I were serious about moving I would probably make it happen just to get the lay of the land. They didn't ask to have a candidate in MN. It's really not their loss if she doesn't make the trip.
The problem is that if this is a lower level position there are probably PLENTY of reasonable candidates in the local area. What makes you special enough to bring you half way across the country?
It is a buyers market I know of several companies that have made major cuts in technical staff in the Twin Cities area in teh last year and only offered continued employment to key people IF they were willing to move to facilities in other regions. (some relocation was offered) So there is obviously no need to pay for people to move into areas that are already well populated with appropriate talent. They are willing to consider transplants if they are there but they don't need to bring anyone in at their cost.
I would also take the recruiters comments with a grain of salt. It is in the recruiters best interest to get you hired. The only way to get you hired is to get you interviewed. If the company isn't planning on bringing people into San Diego for interviews he/she needs to convince you to come in for an interview on your own. Is the recruiter willing to help out with the expenses of the trip? Are they that confident? I'll bet not.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
